I Wanna Be With You From Now On
by alexthelion-ess
Summary: Imagine that Person A has trouble sleeping without Person B beside them, and that B has been away for a few days. Once B finally returns and they cuddle up in bed for the night, a rather sleep-deprived A falls asleep in seconds, the warmth of Person B and the smell of their skin the most soothing thing in the world to A.


**Imagine that Person A has trouble sleeping without Person B beside them, and that B has been away for a few days. Once B finally returns and they cuddle up in bed for the night, a rather sleep-deprived A falls asleep in seconds, the warmth of Person B and the smell of their skin the most soothing thing in the world to A.**

Skye flipped her pillow in annoyance for what felt like the millionth time. She told herself that her inability to sleep was because she was nervous for her presentation in front of the board in the morning, but deep down, she knew different. Grant had been only been gone for a week, on business somewhere on the West Coast, and already it was shaping to be a most lonely couple weeks.

When they had moved in together several months ago, Skye hadn't anticipated how dependent on Grant's presence she would become. He became a sort of rock that helped keep her moored to the present. When he was around, she felt comfortable, safe. A drastic change from the insecurity she felt living in her van just a few short years ago. It wasn't that she didn't feel safe now, (she knew where her military boyfriend kept his guns) but rather something seemed to be missing.

She first noticed it the first morning, when she went to go make her coffee. Usually, the kitchen was already bustling with activity when she walked in. Grant would be blending together his super protein shake, between flipping pancakes or scrambling eggs. He would crinkle his nose while Skye prepared her coffee. Now it was just the silent rumbling as the coffee machine struggled to spurt out the scalding water. To battle the silence, Skye tried music the next day. It did well to fill the silence, but nothing to fill the empty space.

Coming home from work was similarly hollow. On days Grant didn't have to run drills, Skye would come home to the television blaring and the smell of food cooking from the Kitchen, and on days he had to work late, Skye would order from the nearby Chinese restaurant. Before he had left, Grant had prepared a couple dinners, joking that Skye couldn't afford to eat Chinese for 2 weeks straight. She had given him a playful punch, but accepted the meals gratefully. She first tried eating in the dining room, but the extra space at the table made her uncomfortable, so she moved herself to the couch, in front of the television.

When it came time to prepare for bed, Skye initially was excited to have to bed all to herself. Grant's toned body and large frame made it difficult to truly stretch out, and so that's exactly what she did. She threw herself in the middle of the bed, spread wide, enjoying the extra space that came with sleeping alone. As the night wore on, Skye discovered herself subconsciously shifting over to her side of the bed, and when her alarm woke her up the next morning, she was not surprised to find she had completely reverted back to her side. The next night, Skye found herself reaching out to the other side, wanting to cuddle with the man who wasn't there. With a huff she shifted the pillows so that she could wrap her arms around them in a hug. It worked the first few days. But Skye still found herself unable to sleep through the whole night.

Skye thought maybe the comforter was making her too hot, but after spending night shivering, she decided against it. She then avoided drinking coffee after 2, but after having a few sharp words with some junior programmers, she figured that must not be it either. Hoping to find some solution to her inability to sleep, she confided with her best friend from the science division. She was not pleased when the petite scientists laughed,

"What's so funny? I'm dying over here. If I keep showing up dead tired, Coulson's gonna have my head!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Skye leveled a glaring look at the brit,

"Jemma, if it was obvious I wouldn't be asking you for help now would I." Jemma huffed,

"Well, tell me, since you and Ward have lived together, what's the longest you've been separated?" Skye thought carefully before answering,

"I think maybe 3 days? When Coulson sent me to that Afterlife programming retreat." Jemma quirked an eyebrow,

"And when you came back, was Grant over eager to have you back?" Skye shrugged,

"I mean yea, but he's always been nervous when I leave. Plus he wasn't feeling well and hadn't been getting much sle - Oh shit." Jemma couldn't of looked more smug if a lightbulb had appeared over the programmer's head, "Have we really become _those_ people? Unable to function without the other around?" Jemma chuckled,

"It makes sense. You're not used to sleeping alone, and its obvious that you both care for each other deeply. I know I have some trouble when Fitz goes off to do special guest lectures. You just have to find alternatives in the meantime." Skye snorted into her coffee, her third cup that day,

"What? Like getting one of those boyfriend pillows? I'm not sure Grant would be comfortable with that, or me for that matter." Jemma shook her head,

"Not necessarily. You've already made that little pillow wall thing right?" Skye nodded, "Well, maybe you can do something that make's it seem more like Ward. Dab some of his cologne onto it?" Skye was doubtful it would work, but agreed to try anyways.

That night, she grabbed his bottle of cologne and made sure to dab just enough that it was if Grant had just left the bed to go to the bathroom. She climbed into bed and got comfortable, reaching over to hug the pillows. The scent, although initially disquieting, did allow Skye to relax just a bit. If she closed her eyes, she could just imagine Grant in her arms, not halfway across the country. When she woke the next morning, she made sure to let Jemma to know that her weird idea had actually somewhat worked.

Finally, the day of Grant's return had arrived. Skye's usual drowsiness was replaced by buzzing excitement. She stared at the clock with rapt attention, waiting for the hands to signal quitting time. At 5:01, Skye was out of the building and heading to her car. At 5:45 she was pulling into her driveway. A grin spread across her face as she saw Grant's familiar SUV parked in its usual spot in the garage. She opened the door and was immediately met with the smell of cooked steaks from the kitchen and the sound of CNN blasting from the living room. She dropped her bags at the door and quickly made her way to the kitchen.

Grant was standing over the stove, back to the door, whistling as he cooked. Skye couldn't stop herself from running from the door and wrapping her arms around his stomach. Grant gave a grunt of surprise at the sudden contact. Skye buried her head in his back, drinking in his scent.

"I missed you." Grant chuckled, and gently turned so he and Skye were chest to chest. He wrapped his arms around her torso, leaning down for a kiss, Skye eagerly filled the gap between them, sighing into his lips. When Grant broke the kiss, Skye gave a little whimper, making Grant laugh again,

"Skye, as much as I want to just take you to bed right here and now, if I don't get back to the stove now we're going to end up eating leftover Chinese food.

"I'm ok with that," Skye hummed, but allowed Grant to turn back to the food. She sighed and gave him one last squeeze before going to set up the dinner table. She lit candles, set out the fancy table cloths and poured them a generous helping of wine. Grant came in with the plates, laden with steak, asparagus and mashed potatoes, Skye's favorite meal.

They dug in, Skye inhaling her meal while Grant relayed the details of his trip. When they were done they cleaned and moved over to the living room, where Skye curled close to Grant as he tried to guess the Jeopardy answers, and finally they moved to the bedroom. Skye had forgotten to fix the wall of pillows before she had left for work, and Grant gave her a curious glance when she hurried to fix it. She gave him a sheepish shrug and went to go get ready for bed.

Finally they were both ready for bed. Skye walked out of the bathroom to find Grant already under the covers, reading over some reports, and she was quick to join him. When she sidled up to him, he absentmindedly wrapped his arm around her. Skye pressed her face closer to his chest, taking in the fresh scent of him. Without even meaning to, she hummed in contentment. Finally, after weeks of being unable to sleep, she drifted off almost immediately.

The next day she would tell Jemma that it was arguably the best sleep she's ever gotten.


End file.
